Finding out how many Chiko Rolls the Peter Brock Trophy can hold is the first thing Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood will do after winning the Bathurst 1000.
Kostecki, with co-driver Hazelwood in the Chiko-sponsored Camaro, fended off red-hot Red Bull star Broc Feeney in the nearly six-hour marathon at Mount Panorama on Sunday to win Australia’s biggest domestic motorsport prize.
The reigning Supercars champion is the first driver since Chaz Mostert in 2021 to win from pole.
Feeney and his co-driver Jamie Whincup were second, ahead of Red Bull teammates Will Brown and Scott Pye in third.
A year on from fumbling the grid’s top spot at Mount Panorama, Kostecki held his nerve on Sunday against numerous fierce passing attempts from second-rower Feeney to lead for the opening 28 laps, before handing over to Hazelwood.
Kostecki looked certain to be crowned King of the Mountain, until a Matt Payne crash resulted in the only safety car and a full course reset after almost five hours.
With the entire grid boasting fresh tyres and 28 laps to go, the West Australian proved his mettle by fending off Feeney in a sprint showdown to the finish line.
Such was Feeney’s pace that the 21-year-old took the fastest lap of the race, with a time of two minutes 7.861 seconds.
Kostecki won by just 1.35 seconds, thanks in part to a “secret” tune-up in his last visit to the garage.
Whincup, also Red Bull team boss, believes the tweak was a front roll-bar change.
“It was just enough to stay in front of Broc there,” Kostecki said.
“It was probably the fastest 20, 30 laps I’ve ever done here around the mountain consecutively.”
It is a career-first Bathurst 1000 win from six attempts for Kostecki and from eight attempts for Hazelwood.
Asked about their celebration plans, Hazelwood said: “We’ll fill the trophy with some Chiko Rolls tonight. That’s probably job number one.
“It’s been a huge amount of work, as every team up and down pit lane knows.
“There’s so much work that goes into the 1000. We talk about it all year. We work towards it, we dream about it.
“It’s an absolute dream come true.”
The win is also Kostecki’s first of the season after a messy off-season legal dispute with Erebus disrupted his title defence.
He missed the first two rounds this season because of the dispute.
Departing for Dick Johnson Racing next year, Kostecki gave Erebus their second Bathurst 1000 win, following David Reynolds’ 2017 triumph.
Feeney and Whincup did find some redemption in their second-place result after their last attempt at the mountain ended in tears.
The pair experienced gearbox issues on lap 137 when they were placed second before finishing 23rd last year.
Sunday’s result was the best finish at Mount Panorama for Feeney from five attempts, but Whincup’s quest to break his 12-year-long Bathurst drought fell just short.
The podium finish helped Feeney knock off Mostert for second spot in the standings, 204 points behind Brown.
Mostert finished fifth, with Cam Waters fourth.
BATHURST 1000 RESULTS
1. Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood (Erebus Motorsport)
2. Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
3. Will Brown/Scott Pye (Triple Eight)
4. Cam Waters/James Moffat (Tickford Racing)
5. Chaz Mostert/Lee Holdsworth (Walkinshaw Andretti United)
6. James Golding/David Russell (PremiAir Nulon Racing)
7. Anton De Pasquale/Tony D’Alberto (Dick Johnson Racing)
8. Jack Le Brocq/Jayden Ojeda (Erebus)
9. Richie Stanaway/Dale Wood (Grove Racing)
10. Cam Hill/Cam Crick (Matt Stone Racing)
